Woods Question

[Mike Carr]

I'd like to try my WW as a pre-amp only. It's an old 80's model M-100 8, two channels. 100 watts into 8 ohms, 150 into 4 ohms.
Walter told me long ago not to ever run the amp without connecting it to a speaker, 4 ohms min load.
I've also got a Countryman Type 85 direct box, industry standard. It can take signal from either a pickup or an amp. Countryman says set the input for "speaker" and run out of an amp's speaker output into the DI. I'd then patch from the amp's 1/4 inch line out to whatever other more powerful amp I might want to try, there is a 400 watt SWR avaliable in the club where I currently play. Is this OK to do with a WW Amp, will the Countryman DI act as a proper subsitute to a speaker's load. Is this safe for my WW Amp? Please advise, before I do something dumb and fry my beloved little amp!

[Reuben]

Well, first of all, if you run from the speaker out to a DI, even if it doesn't blow the output transistors, you will not be only using the woods preamp stage, you'll be using the output stage as well. I don't know about yours, but my Woods has an effect send, which is post channel and could be used to send to a power amp or DI. Also, on mine, there's a line out. That could also be sent to another amp or DI without troubles.

Anyway, if you want to do the speaker out to the Countryman, keep in mind that Walter insists that you don't use a dummy load with your amp, so maybe you ought to call him and make sure he isn't thinking of something like this.

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

You should be OK running a signal out of the line out into a DI or as a preamp-out into the SWR's power section, so long as the master volume is set to zero, but I agree that you should call Walter first.
Until last year, when I upgraded to a newer Woods, I had the same amp that you do, which according to Walter was one of his better vintages. Plugged into efficient speakers that amp will raise Hell...what are you using it with?
What worked best for me, as per the builder's advice, was turning the master volume control between 3/4 and full and regulating the volume with the input gain controls. I don't know if you've tried that, but my amp played insanely loud once I learned that trick.

[Mike Carr]

My concern, perhaps better stated is wanting to know if it's OK to run my WW without having a speaker connected, hence asking about plugging the Countryman in place of a speaker. Right now I use the Countryman as normal DI, WW with speaker box plugged into speaker outs, WW 1/4 inch line-out into DI to house PA, works great! But simply being able to use the amp safely, line-out into the SWR's power section, then SWR into the speaker box would most ideal, as long as my running the WW without anything connected to it's speaker output jacks is safe. So, line out into SWR, WW master volume set to ZERO, this is safe? I'd try calling Walter, but I'm in China now and it with the 15 hour time difference, and he not allways picking up his calls I thought I'd ask all of you'all first. Kungfu, I'll try your suggestion too, as I've allways run my amp master full-on, with the pre's lowered. The club's speaker is an SWR Workingman's 15 with a tweeter. It's OK for URB, not great, just OK. The thing is, I've got some doubling nessasary soon, new act coming wants some funk on EB, slapping and all that, along with the DB. would be great to be able to have my favorite WW tones, with more headroom for the funk stuff.

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

With all due respect to SWR lovers, a Woods with good speakers will walk all over a Workingman's 15. I wouldn't bother jacking into the SWR.

[Freddels]

I asked this very question about a month or so ago (see post 13 & 15 Walter Woods/Wizzy-M vs. AI Focus 2R III/Wizzy-M. I have a WW M-100 that I bought back in '84. I am now running it as a preamp into a QSC 1804 and it is great. I don't have a speaker hooked up to it. I'm running out of the line out of the WW. Sounds great!! I wish I could get just a preamp that sounded like this. Too bad Walter doesn't make a preamp based on the old WW amps.

[robgrow]

Originally Posted by Freddels

I asked this very question about a month or so ago (see post 13 & 15 Walter Woods/Wizzy-M vs. AI Focus 2R III/Wizzy-M. I have a WW M-100 that I bought back in '84. I am now running it as a preamp into a QSC 1804 and it is great. I don't have a speaker hooked up to it. I'm running out of the line out of the WW. Sounds great!!

There's no reason that you can't run an MI-100-8 without a speaker connected. In fact, most solid state amps are OK to run this way. It's always best to check first though.

Originally Posted by Freddels

Too bad Walter doesn't make a preamp based on the old WW amps.

+1

[Mike Carr]

Thanks for all the replys. I feel like I sent an S.O.S. and my brother WW Amp lovers are coming to the rescue, which all the great tips and good advice! Kungfu, I played my gig tonight with my master down to about 3/4, and raising the leval a bit at the front end of the amp. You are right, seems now like the amp is giving me a little extra something. Still plenty clean with my URB, but more *special WW tone" and yep, sounds louder. Will most likely be just fine with the Fender bass too, but nice to know that some of you guys have been successful while running to WW into other amps. The "other" amp that is the houses backline is an SWR Workingmans 4004 head, the speaker an SWR 15 cabinet. So far I've just been plugging my WW into that box. I don't travel with my own speaker. Funny, I first started with a M 100-8 WW back early 80's, I was mostly playing electric bass then, my speaker was a "Road" brand, big box built like a flight case with an EV 18 inside! Little brain on top of giant box, but sounded great. Latter I got one of a very few of the Walter Woods speaker cabs. It came with a Guass 15, 4 ohm small box that says "Woods Mini Amp". Super sounding speaker! That became my jazz rig. For the road, I'd plug into anything out there, Ampeg SVT boxes, Acoustic folded horns, whatever, my amp could still make it work, even if the result was not nessasaraly super clean at high volumes with electric, it was still a good tone if one didn't need to slap much. I've got a Razers Edge 10 that I like alot for URB these days, but it's back home in California.

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by Mike Carr

Latter I got one of a very few of the Walter Woods speaker cabs. It came with a Guass 15, 4 ohm small box that says "Woods Mini Amp". Super sounding speaker! That became my jazz rig. I've got a Razers Edge 10 that I like alot for URB these days, but it's back home in California.

Mike,
If you get the chance, we would all love to see the Woods Mini Amp Cabinet. Gauss made wonderful speakers. I put one into a B-15 Cabinet and used my Woods MI-100-8 to power it. It sounded pretty good at the time actually.

Ric

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

Guitar Center had one of those Woodson cabs on their Web site a few months back, tagged at a whopping $99. God knows if it still had the original speaker.
My Woods amps have loved my EV speaker. I'd suggest you get ahold of one again.

[Mike Carr]

Sorry, no pics for at least 2 more months. I still own it, but don't travel with it. The Guass blew many years ago, I put a Carvin 15 in to replace, just a cheap fix, was in a hurry. Worked OK but the old Guass was much better!
I'm pretty sure that my cabinet is not one of the "Woodson" boxes. I recall seeing a few of those back in the day and mine is different. Mine was made by a guitarist named Peter Woodsford, he sometimes subbed on "The Tonight Show" band for Bob Bain. Walter sold these boxes for only about a year or two before he and Woodsford parted company. Maybe the "Woodson" is something that Woodsford started later, I don't know much about those.
Walter used to have one of the Mini Amp cabinets placed at ear level on his workbench. I offered to buy it from him once because it matched mine but Walter said "no way", because it was what he used to test each and every one of his amps with.
I bought mine in the early 80's used in LA from a bass player who played for Johnny Mathis. I don't recall his name but he let me have it for a low price, maybe $200. Other players who were using this speaker in those days included Valda Hamnick, Herb Mickman, Monte Budwig and Steve Rodby.
They weighed close to 50 lbs, but by the standards those days this was considered light for a bass speaker. I always liked the sound of mine. I only know of one other that might be still around but I'll never tell because I'd like to buy from the fellow that owns it once I get back to LA, then I'd have a matching set. Valda Hamnick had two of these, stacked in her teaching studio in North Hollywood. Two boxes, with the little Woods brain sitting proudly on top. It was awsome to behold. A WW stack!

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

To hell with the stack, you met Walter Himself? Damn...
I would say something about Carvin speakers, but I don't see a puking-emoticon on my screen.

[Freddels]

Nobody gets to meet the Wizard!

[robgrow]

Like many other amp / cab manufacturers, Carvin speakers are made by Eminence. At one time Carvin offered Gauss speakers as an option. Unfortunately Gauss stuff has been out of production for some time (since 1998 I think).

[Reefer]

Walter used to recommend cabinets made by Gary Raymond(or it may have been Rayburn). I imagine he also made the cabs for Walter.

[Mike Carr]

I remember those. Gary Raymond. Very nice cabinets, some of my friends had them. A small box for 15 inch speaker. This is a cabinet that came out sometime after my "Woods Mini Amp" box ceased production. The Gary Raymond speaker had a different port configuration than my speaker. Mine has just one small port, only a couple inches in diameter. A tube, just kind of a cardboard tube, like a spool for paper towels faces inward from the hole in the speaker baffle.
My cabinet was very solid, impossible to get it too rattle or buzz. People were always very impressed with the sound of my rig, this speaker plus the Woods head served my quite well for a very long time.

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by Mike Carr

People were always very impressed with the sound of my rig, this speaker plus the Woods head served my quite well for a very long time.

Mike,
That's the beauty of the Walter Woods amps, they are very reliable.
I sold my MI-100-8 to a friend and he's still using it. That's remarkable for a amplifier that was built in 1979.

Ric

[LowBSix]

Originally Posted by KUNGfuSHERIFF

With all due respect to SWR lovers, a Woods with good speakers will walk all over a Workingman's 15. I wouldn't bother jacking into the SWR.

I've got the 450/600 Walter Woods and he signed the bottom of it for me when he shipped it out brand spanking new in 1989!

It still runs like a top. All I've ever had to do is spray some "pot cleaner" in the volume pots.

I've taken it on the road and used all sorts of cabinets. Used it as just a preamp in the studio. ALWAYS use a send into a DI, because he wasn't making built in DI's in '89. It let's the voice of the instrument come out. It's so clean that I added the TRACE ELLIOT SM7 EQ Pedal so I can get some grit because the WW is so clean!

I've played through SWR, EDEN, TRACE ELLIOT, MARKBASS, EPIFONI and NOTHING COMES CLOSE to my WALTER WOODS! For 7 Pounds and will fit in the gig bag pocket or in a small tote with cables....

I've been looking in these threads and if there isn't one yet, we need to start a WALTER WOODS club!